Awards recognize contribution and dedication of staff

Five individuals at UBC’s Okanagan campus were recognized with special awards for their contributions to the university at a ceremony Thursday.

The Staff Awards of Excellence are awarded in the categories of Enhancing the UBC Experience, Leadership, Sustainability and Global Citizenship. In addition, the Deputy Vice Chancellor and Principal Award is made to an individual in recognition of their exceptional contribution to both the campus and community at large.

“We take great pride in celebrating the achievements of our staff,” says Doug Owram, Deputy Vice Chancellor and Principal of UBC’s Okanagan campus.

“Our academic and support staff are dedicated to the vision of higher education and they are engaged in the mission to deliver a superior university experience to our students and community,” Owram says, adding: “It is with great pleasure that I take this opportunity to congratulate each of our award winners. I encourage all of UBC and the larger community to applaud their efforts and deliver a heart-felt ‘thank you’ for their contribution and for making UBC a better place.”

The Deputy Vice Chancellor and Principal Award recipient is Shelley Kayfish, director of health, safety and environment for UBC’s Okanagan campus, who receives an honourarium in the amount of $4,000 and a framed certificate.

In her role, Kayfish liaises with emergency services personnel at the City of Kelowna, Interior Health and other agencies to ensure continuity, coordination and communication with UBC over safety issues and best practices.

“Shelley established the UBC Okanagan campus Health and Safety Committee and she built links to the greater Okanagan community by providing first-aid and safety training, not just to our staff but locally,” says her nominator, George Athans. “Perhaps most impressively, Shelley established UBC’s Emergency Operations Committee and a corresponding Emergency Response Plan, including a risk and threat assessment.”

Kayfish’s recognition for the prestigious award is echoed by her supervisor, Jackie Podger, associate vice president of administration and finance.

“Shelley has made an outstanding contribution to UBC through her leadership on a number of safety initiatives,” says Podger. “She has led many projects and programs that exceed her duties on campus and which have benefited the greater community,” says Podger.

“Craig has been pivotal to the growth of this campus – the IT infrastructure would not be where it is today without the strong stance he has taken on issues and his ability to bring groups together to work to common goals,” says Craig’s nominator Steve Rosco. “Craig is being recognized for being a role model to his team, and his commitment to identifying and implementing best practices with respect to information technology, resulting in efficiencies and sustainable solutions.”

Wakeman was nominated by her faculty for her leadership in building a sound and effective administrative foundation for the department during a period of rapid growth and a major accreditation effort.

“Throughout all the complexity, Teija has maintained a simple, clear vision of leadership: hire talented staff, present them with clearly articulated job descriptions, and then empower the staff to make decisions through careful thought and decision making,” says Carolyn Labun, her nominator. “Teija has make the School of Engineering a pleasant and meaningful place to work.”

As laboratory manager since 2006, Russell has researched and purchased almost $2,000,000 in lab equipment, set up an off-campus facility to support undergraduate labs, designed and installed a machine shop off campus, developed a safety program for undergraduate labs, and contributed significantly in the design of the new Engineering Management Education building.

“Throughout all this, his original solutions for teaching and research labs are always in-line with his dedication to material and energy saving and making the least impact to the environment,” says his nominator, Vladan Prodanovic. “In fact, sustainability principles are one of the basic criteria of his design approach – whether it’s simply reusing crates to divide space in a large lab or make work benches, to sophisticated computer and data acquisition set-up for use in multiple labs, it has always been Russell’s unique stamp.”

Global Citizenship
Garry Appleton, director, parking and security

Garry is being recognized for his work in successfully partnering with both our internal and external communities to deliver innovative and nationally recognized programs. One example has been his role in the development and stewardship of the Okanagan Campus’s non-academic misconduct process.

“Drawing upon his years of experience with the RCMP, Garry has been instrumental in developing, piloting and managing a new process,” says his nominator, Roger Bizzotto. “Research, experience and a great network of industry and community partnerships led Garry to embark on this change initiative, which has led to a dramatic reduction in misconduct infractions.”